"It's a Grade 1 Pill, Feng Xing Dan (Wind Walker Pill)!"
Jiang Yun didn't recognize what kind of pill it was, but there were plenty of smart people around who easily knew its effects and ingredients.
Feng Xing Dan (Wind Walker Pill): Can increase a Dou Zhe's speed for the duration of an incense stick!
It seemed Elder Liu was going to give all the Alchemists present a lesson, starting with the most basic pills!
For Elder Liu, a Rank 4 Alchemist, to refine a Grade 1 Pill was naturally a piece of cake, but to better demonstrate his alchemy and allow the Alchemy Department students present to gain something, Elder Liu deliberately slowed down. However, observing his movements, there was still a smooth and flowing sense of ease.
Although Elder Liu's rank wasn't high, his alchemy skills were extremely solid. It was indeed worthy of being an Elder of Jia Nan Academy's Alchemy Department; his teaching level was unique.
Elder Liu in the arena threw one herb after another into the medicine cauldron. As the flames rose, these herbs were almost instantly burned into small green liquid masses.
Immediately after, Elder Liu took out a cyan Grade 1 magic core. An hour later, the hard magic crystal had been calcined into a light cyan liquid. The violent energy contained within the magic crystal was also washed away by Elder Liu with a miraculous combination of medicinal properties.
Seeing the Alchemy Department students around him watching mesmerized, Jiang Yun knew they were gaining insights. This made most of the people present envious, because they were not Alchemists; they knew what was happening but not why, which was quite painful.
It was like knowing a great treasure was right in front of you, but being unable to enter—how heartbreaking that feeling was!
However, this did not include Jiang Yun. Relying on his excellent soul power and abnormal comprehension, he had firmly imprinted Elder Liu's hand movements in his mind, just waiting to go back and find some herbs to test his conjectures.
"Condense!"
At this moment, accompanied by Elder Liu's loud shout in the arena, a powerful soul force erupted and surged into the medicine cauldron.
At this moment, Jiang Yun in the corner narrowed his eyes, suppressing the impulse of the soul force within his body. He had always wondered how strong his soul force truly was, and now, by comparing it with Elder Liu, he roughly knew.
The other party was not as strong as him!
At least at this moment, he did not feel any soul suppression from the other party.
While Jiang Yun was silently comparing outside the arena, in the center of the stage, under the control of Elder Liu's soul force, clusters of various colored medicinal liquids in the cauldron slowly approached each other.
Even if there was some resistance in the middle, it was skillfully resolved by Elder Liu. Finally, the medicinal liquids fused and slowly condensed into a greenish, irregular sphere.
Only at this moment did Jiang Yun know that this pill was successfully refined. Next, he only needed to wait for the pill to be nurtured by the flames, and he would obtain a Feng Xing Dan (Wind Walker Pill) of excellent quality.
As time passed, after refining the Grade 1 Feng Xing Dan (Wind Walker Pill), Elder Liu also refined the Grade 2 Green Wood Pill, Grade 3 Tranquil Heart Pill, and Grade 4 Jade Bone Powder. The pills gradually increased in grade as time went on, making everyone present drool—those were fourth grade pills!
As the Jade Bone Powder was placed into a jade bottle, Elder Liu let out a long sigh of relief. The sky had already darkened, and even though Elder Liu was a Dou Wang, a day of alchemy left him feeling a wave of fatigue.
"Alright, today's alchemy demonstration ends here. I hope all students have gained something and will take fewer detours on the path of an Alchemist in the future, producing more Alchemy Grandmasters to bring honor to our Jia Nan Academy's Alchemy Department."
Elder Liu put away his medicine cauldron and scanned the Alchemy Department students, his eyes filled with expectation.
As a hegemonic force in the Black-Corner Region, Jia Nan Academy and the lawless elements of the Black-Corner Region formed two opposing camps. If there was one area where Jia Nan Academy fell short compared to the Black-Corner Region...
It was in high-level Alchemists!
Considering only the Alchemist groups in the Inner Court and Outer Court, Jia Nan Academy could be called the Black-Corner Region's number one 'group,' but when it came to high-level Alchemy Grandmasters, Jia Nan Academy lacked impressive strength.
The top Alchemist in Jia Nan Academy's Alchemy Department was Fire Elder of the Inner Court, a peak Rank 5 Alchemist. In contrast, the top Alchemist in the Black-Corner Region was Medicine Emperor Han Feng. On the surface, his alchemy strength was peak Rank 6, but as Yao Chen's proud disciple, he had probably already reached the Rank 7 realm.
It was just that due to limitations in his strength, he had been unable to freely refine Seventh Grade Pills.
Low-grade pills did not have such stringent requirements for strength or Dou Qi, and often, consuming pills while refining was a basic operation, allowing for cross-rank alchemy.
Just like Xiao Yan, a Dou Master, refining fourth grade pills.
However, the refinement of high-grade pills often required the Alchemist's soul force, Dou Qi strength, and alchemy skill, all of which were indispensable.
Upon reaching Seventh Grade Pills, the heavens would send down a heavenly tribulation, an existence that even Dou Zong had to handle with caution, let alone Han Feng, who was only a peak Dou Huang.
It could be said that he was just a hair's breadth away from being a true Seventh-Rank Alchemist.
From this, one could see how vast the gap in strength was between Jia Nan Academy and the Black-Corner Region's Alchemists.
Rank 7 and Rank 5 were worlds apart; this was almost becoming a persistent concern for Jia Nan Academy's Alchemy Department.
At this moment, Elder Liu looked eagerly at this batch of Alchemy Department disciples, who were the seeds of hope.
"Thank you, Elder, for your guidance!"
Seeing Elder Liu's expectations as a teacher, the students were also moved and respectfully bowed to Elder Liu.
Even Jiang Yun was no exception!
Returning to his dormitory, Jiang Yun sat cross-legged on his bed, recalling every detail of Elder Liu's demonstration today, ensuring not a single detail was missed, before beginning his cultivation for the day.
The next day, Jiang Yun did not sense Zi Yan's aura in the room. She was probably still running wild in that beast den!
Jiang Yun left the dormitory and arrived at a place called the Treasure Pavilion.
Stepping inside, the books filling the room made Jiang Yun feel a little dazed, as if he had returned to his days in the Demonic Spirit Clan, when he would come to the clan's Treasure Pavilion every day to quietly read books.
Putting away his thoughts, Jiang Yun looked at the students around him quietly reading their books, not disturbing them. He quietly took a few books and went to an inconspicuous corner to read silently.
The books he chose were titled: "Introduction to Alchemy," "Pill Identification Handbook," "Compendium of Medicinal Properties," and "Control of Pill Flames."
These were some basic alchemy knowledge, but they did not contain pill formulas. Precious pill formulas were an Alchemist's lifeline and would not be easily divulged. Even common, widely available formulas were only accessible after officially joining the Alchemy Department.
Fortunately, Jiang Yun didn't need these for now. He first needed to thoroughly understand the basic knowledge of alchemy before considering other things.
"Slap!"
Closing the "Compendium of Medicinal Materials" in his hand, Jiang Yun let out a long sigh of relief. This was his seventh day immersed in the Treasure Pavilion. In these past few days, he had read all the alchemy-related books he could find in the Treasure Pavilion. With his excellent soul force, he had transformed from an alchemy novice into a 'theoretical master.'
Now, everything was ready, all that was left was practice!
"Little fellow, interested in alchemy?"
Just as Jiang Yun stood up to leave, a faint voice came from behind him.
Jiang Yun instantly became alert. He turned around and saw an old man with white hair and beard smiling at him. Even though the other party's smile was shallow, Jiang Yun could tell from the gaps in his lips that he didn't have a full set of teeth.
All of this indicated the old age of the other party!
Clearly, this was an 'expert' hidden in the Scripture Pavilion.
"Elder!"
"May I ask, who on the continent isn't interested in alchemy?!"
Judging the other party to be a hidden old fellow, Jiang Yun bowed and asked with a look of longing.
"Hehe!"
"Indeed, who in this world isn't interested in alchemy?" The old man chuckled, a hint of longing appearing on his aged face. Looking at Jiang Yun's tender face, his face was full of reminiscence, as if he was recalling his younger self.
At that time, wasn't he just like this?
Full of longing for alchemy, dreaming that he could one day become a high and respected Alchemist. Unfortunately, reality often delivers a head-on blow, telling you, 'Child, don't think too much. You don't have that fate, understand?'
With a flicker of distraction in his eyes, the old man looked at Jiang Yun and asked, "You're a new student this year, aren't you?"
"Yes!" Although he didn't know what the other party was up to, Jiang Yun still answered. He and Zi Yan were specially recruited by Su Qian, so they were considered new students this year.
During Zi Yan's half-year seclusion, he had already reported to their class, which was Yellow Class Three. The instructor was a male Four-Star Dou Grandmaster named Wu En. When he first met him, Wu En was not surprised; clearly, Hu Gan had given some instructions.
So, Jiang Yun was now a new student with an identity!
"To have such cultivation at your age, this old man has never seen it in his life." The old man received a positive reply from Jiang Yun, nodded with satisfaction, and rejoiced in his heart that the academy had recruited such a genius.
However, then he picked up "Introduction to Alchemy" from a stack of books next to Jiang Yun, casually flipped through it a few times, and then said, "I observe that you have a very strong fire attribute throughout your body, but you lack that hint of vitality. Clearly, you don't possess the wood attribute yourself. You should know that while alchemy is good, it cannot be forced!"
Listening to the old man's words, which subtly contained a warning, Jiang Yun finally understood the other party's intention. He had seen him immersed in alchemy for many days and, after realizing he had no potential to become an Alchemist, couldn't bear to see a genius waste his cultivation, so he came to warn him.
The old man's intentions were good, and Jiang Yun couldn't tell him the truth. He replied earnestly, "Junior merely wants to observe more. Perhaps I might encounter a treasure in the future and not recognize it, that would be a great pity!"
"It's good that you have such thoughts!" The old man nodded in satisfaction. Regardless, as a teacher, he always liked diligent and studious students. Then he said, "In the Combat Skill area, the third column, third row, there's a decent item. You can go take a look."
With that, the old man collected the stack of books next to Jiang Yun and walked out with steady steps.
Jiang Yun looked at the retreating figure with some astonishment. Had he encountered a hidden opportunity? What protagonist treatment was this? Did he, Jiang Yun, also have a moment where he was favored by a hidden expert and given an opportunity?
With curiosity, Jiang Yun slowly walked towards the Combat Skill area the old man mentioned. Combat skills, as an important component of power on the Dou Qi Continent, occupied a considerable area in the Treasure Pavilion.
Walking into an area bustling with people, he looked up and saw countless bookshelves. At the front of each bookshelf, a large character representing an attribute was written.
This place was filled with combat skills of various attributes: fire, wood, wind, and Jiang Yun even found quite a few rare dark-attributed ones.
Jia Nan Academy truly lived up to its name as an academy founded by people of the Lei Clan. It usually kept a low profile, but its foundation could rival the Four Great Pavilions of the Central Plains.
Jiang Yun headed towards the bookshelf the old man mentioned, passing by combat skill after combat skill.
Yellow Rank Mid-Grade Cultivation Method, Fire Cloud Cultivation.
Yellow Rank High-Grade Combat Skill, Crushing Mountain Fist.
Yellow Rank High-Grade Combat Skill, Shattering Stone Palm.
Most of the combat skills and cultivation methods here were Yellow Rank. Jiang Yun didn't see a single Profound Rank one. Even Jia Nan Academy wouldn't so generously open up Profound Rank combat skills and cultivation methods to all students.
However, even Yellow Rank combat skills and cultivation methods were rare treasures in the eyes of these new students, who were generally Dou Zhe or Dou Qi.
As time passed, Jiang Yun finally arrived at the place the old man mentioned and took out a fiery red scroll.
On the back of the scroll was written: Yellow Rank High-Grade Combat Skill: Blazing Flame Palm.
Jiang Yun couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. He hadn't expected it to be a Yellow Rank combat skill. For him, only Profound Rank could serve as his daily combat method, and Earth-rank Dou Technique was his trump card. There was no need to learn Yellow Rank.
However, he still slowly opened the scroll.
'Blazing Flame Palm: Yellow Rank High-Grade Combat Skill, usable for close combat and long-range attacks. When cultivated to mastery, its power can rival a Profound Rank Low-Grade Combat Skill. If the cultivator's Dou Qi is pure and they possess a special flame, its power can rival a Profound Rank Mid-Grade Combat Skill.'
Looking at the combat skill's description, Jiang Yun knew why the other party recommended this combat skill to him. Because his body had an exceptionally strong fire attribute, cultivating this combat skill might indeed unleash the power of a Profound Rank Mid-Grade. In this sense, it was indeed a small opportunity.
But...
He possessed the Holy Heavenly Demon Flame, which provided an enhancement effect to all fire-attributed combat skills. In that case, this combat skill seemed a bit redundant.
After memorizing the cultivation method, Jiang Yun put the combat skill back in its original place, awaiting the next fated person.
After Jiang Yun returned to his dormitory, he saw Zi Yan, dressed in purple, sitting imperiously on a chair in the living room, her legs constantly swinging.
She was lying on the table listlessly, fiddling boredly with a few fragrant fruits.
When she heard the door open, Zi Yan seemed to 'come alive,' looking at the entering Jiang Yun with surprise.
"Xiao Yunzi, you're finally back!" A delicate shout rang out, and Zi Yan was looking at him with shining eyes.
Jiang Yun involuntarily shivered, then heard Zi Yan's voice again.
"Quick, help me make pills! I'm starving to death!"